What an amazing season! I can hardly believe we are preparing for our fall harvest. Over the past several months, we have been blessed to grow fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, eggplants, lettuce, all type of greens and peppers and sunflowers, and….the list just goes on and on. Bunny’s Garden has absolutely exploded with color, nutrition, and more food than we knew what to do with at times. Additionally, the garden has sparked conversation, community pride, and cooperation, while also providing our neighbors with a sense of peace and beauty as a community green space.
Many times during this season, I have been approached by many in our community who have been interested in what we’ve done on Cecil Street (where the garden is located). I’ve had so many conversations and listened to some amazing stories. However, the most impactful comes from a neighbor of 30+ years. He shared with us that living in the block, he never had a strong desire to come outside or even to look through his windows. But, as he saw the garden go up, it made him happy – proud even! He told us that he now frequents his window to look at the beauty outside of his door.
Down the street, our garden really helped us to connect with more Southwest Philly community members. We’ve developed a relationship with Victoria Miles-Chambliss, Director of Empowered CDC (everyone calls her Ms. Vicky – she’s kind of a boss over here!). When she heard what we were doing at Bunny’s Garden a block over, she asked us to get more involved with the conversation of food justice and children’s programming in our neighborhood. We were even invited to their community resource fair just last week. And thanks to her, we’re expanding our garden operation to an empty lot at Cecil Street and Greenway Ave early next year. We are so grateful for our new partnership with Empowered and the residents of Cecil Street.
We had a surprise visit a few weeks ago from Dr. Donald J. Dahm, whose generosity helped The Common Place establish the Marie Laney Dahm Center for Childhood Trauma. Funding received in his late wife’s memory helps our staff understand how trauma affects children and the way they learn. Our staff is always training to ensure that children who are enrolled in any of our programs are engaged in social-emotional learning. This educational framework helps children to build resilience, empathy, and a sense of care and community.
When we gave Dr. Dahm a tour of the facility, he was very impressed with our food initiatives and the garden especially. We shared with him that the produce sourced from our garden finds its way to members of our community through our food pantry, to the congregants of Salt & Light Community Church through a “donate-what-you-can” model, and sometimes as lunch to our scholars as a part of our nutrition education initiative. He mentioned how food security was close to his heart and it connects with work he is familiar with in Florida!
The scholars have been a huge help this summer. I hardly did much work as they came to learn and essentially took my job. The middle-schoolers worked together to maintain the garden during the summer months. They planted, weeded, pruned, and watered the garden. It was a joy to teach the scholars about vegetables and how to grow them – and with some help from Mr. Carl Green, they also learned how to prepare them!
I can’t begin to tell you how awesome it feels to have helped to make an impact on our neighbors and our scholars! As things wind down here at the garden, we are looking forward to an even better season in 2022 – with more space and capacity to impact our community. Special thanks to all of the partnerships we made this year: Dave and Hayden from Trellis for Tomorrow (they’ve really helped to make this season possible and prosperous), Self Development of People, Salt & Light Community Church, The Neighborhood Garden Trust, Penn State Extension, Cecil Street Neighbors, Empowered CDC, John Heinz Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, and Bartrams Garden. And just as important – you! THANK YOU for a successful year!
GET INVOLVED
The season may be ending, but our mission continues! We are teaching the children of Southwest Philadelphia a valuable skill that they will never forget. Understanding where food comes from and how to grow it is a skill that will enrich their lives and enhance their community. We ask you to be a partner with the children and The Common Place through your prayers. We also ask that you consider supporting this seed-to-plate initiative financially. We certainly cannot do this work alone and your partnership means that together, we can have a transformative impact on the lives of children and their families in Southwest Philly.
